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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Do Your Best, Forget the Rest :)

Happy Sunday! It's a lovely day here in Midland: 75 and sunny, so in honor of this, I decided to go for a "run." I put run in quotations marks because anyone that knows me likely knows my history with running is complicated. I NEVER liked to run when I was younger (my friend Christiana and I would always walk the track), and it wasn't until graduate school, inspired by friends Alison and Jessica in Lake Charles, that I began to give running a shot. I ran my first 5K in March 2011 in Lake Charles and did a second 5K that July that Brendan and I trained for together. While I was never very fast, or very good, I did enjoy how I felt after, and I also enjoyed seeing myself get better and better...

Which brings me to 5K #3 next month...yeah, I really needed to start training for that. I've only logged a few miles all month, and most of them were on the treadmill, which is not so helpful. The problem is, I can tend to be really hard on myself when I run. I don't have Jessica or Alison to pace with me here (both were much faster/better runners than me, but would run by my side and not let me stop), and alone, I tend to start the negative talk in my head. It's amazing: I work out 4-5 times every week (and have been for the past 5 months), but nothing makes me feel out of shape like running does! It starts to feel harder to breathe, that freaks me out, and I slow down. There is so much to remind myself of about breathing and posture. I don't really get into a rhythm and just enjoy it, but today, I at least tried.

I jogged 2 miles today. It wasn't a fast 2 miles, and I came home gasping for air, but they were my 2 miles all the same. And for once, I didn't get annoyed with myself if I needed to walk for a minute or couldn't keep a certain pace...I just let the run be what it would be. It felt good just to get out and enjoy the pretty weather and not be critical. I actually did better without all the negative self-talk, while still pushing myself to improve. Hopefully, I'll do an awesome job at the next 5K...but getting better is most of the point anyway, right?

It's been a good weekend: Game of Thrones, grading papers (both of us will be super busy grading in the 2 weeks leading up to spring break), a friend's birthday party, and catching up with our families, Corley (who has some big news I'll be telling you about soon), and Neil (who had some awesome news for us, but I think I'll wait to share it!) Right now: I'm going to take a shower, make some of my famous chili, and then watch Game of Thrones/maybe some of the Oscars with Brendan. I don't like to think about tomorrow being Monday, but as my wise mother always says, "The only way out is through," a sentiment I remind myself of a lot!

Here's to hoping you too can "do your best and forget the rest" this week! Lets all make it our motto.
<3 S, B, L&Z

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WELCOME

Welcome to Lola & Zoe, a blog about creative, fun, and healthy living. Lola and Zoe started in February 2011, when I had the idea to write about everything that interests me, kind of like trail mix, only in a blog. This is our internet home for vegetarian recipes, creative home decor, fun arts and crafts projects, ideas for a healthy lifestyle, book and movie picks, occasional meanderings about fashion and beauty, some personal stories about teaching, life after M.F.A, homeownership, and of course, a few good miscellaneous surprises. I live in west Texas, with my wonderful husband, Brendan, and our two crazy cats, who also serve as the namesake of this blog. Happy reading!Stacy, Brendan, Lola & Zoe